June 28, 2006 – National rankings:

The Canadian Cycling Association has released the Canadian National series overall rankings after the first three races. Giant Canada’s Eric Goss, Luke Kitzanuk and Charles Dubé are all ranked within the top five in Canada!

2006 Pro Men’s points standings. (top five)

1 – Eric Goss – Giant Bicycle Canada – 485 points.
2 – Luke Kitzanuk – Giant Bicycle Canada – 445 points.
3 – Dominick Menard – Devinci / Daredevil – 410 points.
4 РCharles-Alexandre Dub̩ РGiant Bicycle Canada Р345 points.
5 – Justin Brown – Norco Factory Team – 340 points.

June 12, 2006 – Here is the latest news from Giant Bicycle Canada:

Canadian National series event.

There must have been a lot of people camping at Mont Ste Anne, Quebec on the weekend, because it always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent. It was no exception this weekend as heavy rains plagued the mountain all week!

This weekend was Giant Canada’s Charles Dube’s time to shine. After a week off to recompose himself and focus on this race Charles showed why he was ranked number two in the country last year. Despite the foul conditions, Charles rode a great race with a nerve-racking finish when he knew he was on a good race run. “I am very happy with my weekend, I had a good race run, a bit sketchy at times but I was fast. I was very lucky, I got a front flat in the last wooded section, but it was still okay for pedaling the last section and after I crossed the finish line it was pretty much flat!” Charles crossed the line in second place, only a few seconds behind Australia’s Nathan Rennie who was ranked #3 in the world last year.

Giant Canada’s Eric Goss also had a stellar weekend as he finished up third on the day just behind his new teammate Charles Dube. Despite the bad weather and a rough and wet course Eric still enjoyed himself, “It was a fun course to ride, muddy with lots of ruts and some very fast wide open sections.” Changing weather also played havoc for most of athletes race runs, “My race run was good, but I played it safe up top because it was so foggy in some places you could only see 30 feet in front of you. In the wide-open sections where you are traveling 40+ km per hour the limited vision forces you to hold back a bit.”

Giant Canada’s Luke Kitzanuk headed into the race wearing the Canada Cup leaders jersey and was hoping for another good run here. Unfortunately mid run Luke missed one of the bermed corners and was forced to get off his bike and run back onto the course. ” I didn’t even crash, when I was coming into a corner my front tire hit something and it pushed me off course.” Then Luke commented jokingly, “I am cursed when I race in the leaders jersey, both this year and last year!”

Luke still placed a respectable 11th place.

Pro Men’s results. Canadian National downhill series #3. Mont Ste Anne, Quebec.


1. Nathan Rennie (Aus) – Santa Cruz — 2:56.12

2. Charles A. Dube — Giant Bicycle Canada — 3:03.02

3. Eric Goss — Giant Bicycle Canada — 3:05.09

4. Domminick Menard — Devinci / Daredevil — 3:07.70

5. Mathieu Laurin — Devinci / Daredevil — 3:08.95

6. Hugo Chagnon — Gagné-Vélo — 3:09.55

7. Justin Brown — Norco Factory team — 3:14.69

8. Benoit Rioux — Indépendent — 3:15.30

9. Andy Thibodeau — Indépendant — 3:15.43

10. Sean Brown — Transcend / Orange Bikes — 3:15.45

11. Luke Kitzanuk — Giant Bicycle Canada — 3:15.57

June 1, 2006 – Here is the latest from Giant Bicycle Canada:

Canadian National Series #2.

This past weekend Giant Canada’s downhill team made the trip North of Montreal, Quebec to the resort town of Mont Tremblant. After the previous weeks rain of near biblical proportions, it was a welcome site to see sunshine and warmer temperatures”¦ not to mention some traction on the course.

Going into this weekend’s event Giant’s Luke Kitzanuk was sitting in third place overall after his podium finish in Bromont, Quebec. While most riders aim to just get on the podium Luke didn’t want to settle for anything but the victory here. “I wanted this race bad, whenever possible I pedaled so hard my lungs burned”. Luke had a perfect run and thrilled the crowd as he raced into the finish area clocking the fastest time of the day! First place on the weekend went to Luke Kitzanuk; with two podium finishes under his belt so far, Luke now moves into first place overall in the Canadian National downhill series!

Giant Canada’s Eric Goss blew everyone away at last weekends Canada Cup race and came into the Tremblant course wearing the leaders jersey. With hopes of a second win Eric ran into some trouble high up on the course, “I was killing that track all weekend, but I laid it down pretty hard about a minute into the race”. Some how Eric still managed to make up some time and ended up with an impressive 5th place finish! With first and fifth place finishes, Eric only fell back one notch in the overall rankings and he now sits just behind his teammate in second place overall!

After a solid sixth place finish last weekend Giant Canada’s Charles Dube was looking to climb farther up the ladder this weekend. Unfortunately Charles suffered a big-time crash on the upper section of the racecourse, “I didn’t hurt myself, just my bike! I bent my handle bar and my front brake and broke one of my pedals.” Needless to say, Charles still jumped back on and tried to race the rest of the course but ended up crashing again, “I crashed a second time because my bike was so hard to ride with no front brake on a bent bar and only one pedal!” Charles limped across the line in 24th place, still beating well over half the pro-men’s field. Charles now sits in 12th place in the 2006 overall rankings.

Canadian National Series #2 — Pro Men’s Results:

1 — Luke Kitzanuk — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:21.68
2 — Domenick Menard — Devinci / Daredevil — 4:23.98
3 — Stuart Couper — Kona — 4:25.61
4 — Justin Brown — Norco Factory Team — 4:29.20
5 — Eric Goss — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:30.30
6 — Peter McLean — Devinci / Wrex — 4:32.83
7 — Louis-Phillippe Leonard — Ironhorse — 4:34.13
8 — Nick Dignard — Demers Bicyclettes — 4:39.20
9 — Benoit Rioux — Independent — 4:39.51
10 — Geoff Pendrel — Devinci / Daredevil — 4:40.30
24 — Charles-A Dube — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:51.78

May 11, 2006 – Training camp:

Tomorrow Giant Canada’s Charles Dube of Loretteville, Québec will travel down to the Eastern national team training center for a Quebec team camp. Charles is ranked #2 in Canada and the Quebec Cycling Association is hosting a training camp to help prepare their top athletes for the first Canadian National series event.

Giant Canada’s Eric Goss, ranked #3 in Canada, has spent the last week at the national team training center in Bromont, Quebec as he fine tunes his skills and the new Giant Glory downhill bike for the 2006 season.

Canadian National series.

Giant Canada’s team athletes will be in for a hectic month starting May 20/21 as the Canadian National downhill mountain bike series kicks off in Bromont, Quebec. The following weekend will then see the show travel north to Mont Tremblant, Quebec for stop number two on the National circuit.

Thanks to all of our team sponsors for getting our equipment out to us early so we can be as prepared as possible for the opening rounds of the National series.

March 9, 2006 – This coming March 18-19, Giant Bicycle Canada is holding a 2006 bike Demo in North Vancouver, B.C. The annual event is a huge success every year and attracts many people in Vancouver and the surrounding area. You will finally get the chance to test ride new Giant bikes on the trails and not in the parking lot of a bike shop!

Professional guest rider, Luke Kitzanuk of Giant Canada — ranked #1 in Canada, will be riding the trails with the demo riders, offering advise on bike handling skills, bike set up as well as working in the demo area.

Anyone interested can stop by the Parkgate Mall on Mt. Seymour Parkway, just bring your helmet and two pieces of picture ID (including a drivers license). Free shuttle rides up Seymour Mountain will be provided for testers.

Just look for the tents and demo trucks in the mall parking lot!

2006 Giant Bikes available for testing: Glory DH, Anthem, Reign, Trance and Faith plus Giant’s TCR Carbon road bikes!

Team Sponsor Website

Giant Canada’s nutrition sponsor, Genuine Health, has featured Luke Kitzanuk on their website. To read some of Luke’s product testimonials and check out the rest of Genuine Health’s amazing product line up visit:

www.genuinehealth.com/english/agh/athletes_corner.php

About Genuine Health: They are a leader in Canadian supplements, providing research-proven, natural, and unique products of the highest quality for over 10 years. Highly recognized for greens+, the most nutrient and antioxidant rich formula of its kind that’s proven to provide increased energy, Genuine Health also makes over 35 other health products, including proteins+ and transform+, both providing superior protein sources for active people looking to build lean muscle and improve their athletic performance.

December 2, 2005 – Here is the latest news from the Giant Bicycle Canada Team:

Cycling BC’s Annual Awards Night Gala.

Cycling British Columbia held its annual awards banquet last month to honour B.C.’s outstanding athletes, organizers and supporters of all areas of cycling.

Danika Schroeter was honoured with the title of female mountain bike athlete of the year! Together Danika Schroeter and Giant Bicycle Canada had an amazing season and we were proud to see Danika awarded for her outstanding performances through out the 2005 season.

Indoor racing

Giant Canada’s Luke Kitzanuk made the short trip to the Agrifair indoor/outdoor BMX facility in Abbotsford 2 weekends ago. Luke is training hard this winter to defend his #1 ranking when the 2006 season rolls around. Luke competed in the evening events, racing in the 24″ cruiser class, Luke won two out of three motos his first night and the next morning Luke raced again and placed third in both his motos.

September 8, 2005 – In the last few days of August Giant Canada’s Danika Schroeter headed to the final British Columbia Provincial race of the season. With two previous Provincial series wins under her belt this year, Danika was within grasp of claiming the title of B.C. Provincial series overall Champion to go along with her newly crowned Canadian National series overall Champion title.

The setting for this year’s final – the Monster Mile downhill course at Mount Washington Resort on Vancouver Island. The day before the race the course was in perfect condition; however, when the racers all awoke on race morning they were treated to over-night rains and a now slippery, technical and rough downhill course. After Danika had a set of Maxxis Mud tires installed on her bike the race got underway, Danika’s race run was clean and fast as she easily cruised into first place and claimed her third straight Provincial series win of the year. In doing so Danika also claimed the title of the 2005 Pro Women’s B.C. Cup Provincial series Champion!

Road Trippin’ online article

For those interested in a little reading check out asilvertouch.com, the link is below”¦

www.asilvertouch.com/features.php?feature_id=71
This short article was written by Alex Cameron as he takes a mid-week trip between events with some of Canada’s top downhill racers, including Giant Canada’s Eric Goss and Luke Kitzanuk. It includes some Epic trail riding, lake jumping and some misfortune along the way! There are plenty of photos too.

A big thanks goes out to DAKINE for supplying Giant Canada’s Eric Goss and Luke Kitzanuk each with a Dakine Apex Hydration pack for the back country riding.

August 24, 2005 – We are pleased to announce that Giant Canada’s Luke Kitzanuk has won the Canadian National series overall title. Luke’s second place finish at the last National series event earned him enough points to keep his series lead and claim Canada’s number one ranking for 2005!

Finishing very close to his teammate, Giant Canada’s Eric Goss rode his way into third place overall in Canada. With solid results all year long, Eric moved his way up through the rankings with each consecutive race to give Giant Canada a strong one-two punch in the Pro Men’s field!

Not to be out done, Giant Canada’s Danika Schroeter has also won the Canadian National series overall title in the Pro Women’s class! With Danika’s nail-biting win at the last National series event she earned just enough points to steal the win away from her second place rival.

We finally did it! On top of the many victories and titles Giant Canada’s race team has laid claim to over the years, our last milestone in our successful racing career has been to hold the title of both Pro Men’s and Pro Women’s first place overall rankings in the same year!

It’s certainly the icing on the cake for a stellar year for our team!

August 16, 2005 – This past weekend Giant Canada’s factory team athletes made the trip to Sun Peaks Resort, just outside the mountain bike Mecca known as Kamloops, British Columbia.

Turns out this race ended up being quite crucial in the points race for the overall Canadian National series rankings; it was a high-pressure event for our athletes with lots to gain and lots to lose depending on each individuals performance.

Giant’s Luke Kitzanuk came into the weekend leading the Pro Men’s Canadian National series; however, his points lead was so slim that a crash, mechanical failure or just a plain off day would be enough for Luke to surrender his leaders jersey to another rider. Under the pressure of the number one plate, Luke laid down one of the fastest runs anyone has ever seen on the Sun Peaks downhill race course. Luke ended up in second place for the day and secured himself another podium finish!

According to Giant’s Luke Kitzanuk, the finals course was a true test of rider and equipement, “The course design was excellent for a final race, it had everything: High speed sketchy drop offs, fast woods sections, some technical stuff and plenty of pedaling. It was a true test, the perfect final”.

Coming into the Canada Cup finals, Giant Canada’s Eric Goss had only one option — finish fourth or better. Being one race down on everyone else (missed due to injury), Eric desperately needed a top finish to bump up his overall Canadian National series ranking. Under the same pressure his teammates faced, Eric showed why he is one of Canada’s best professional downhill racers as he turned in an extremely quick time and finished up with a podium finish in fourth place!

Giant Canada’s Danika Schroeter was in a pressure-cooker of her own, she too had only one option for this race”¦ she had to win, otherwise she would finish second in the points race. With that in the back of her mind, Danika blasted down the course and went too fast into one of the corners and went down. Being the true competitor she is, Danika quickly got back into her rhythm and when she crossed the finish line Danika was once again atop the podium with a first place victory!

Pro Men’s Results:

1. David Klassenvanoorschot (USA) — KHS Bikes — 4:48.73
2. Luke Kitzanuk — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:50.46
3. Charles-Alexandre Dube — DH Racer — 4:55.22
4. Eric Goss — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:55.37
5. Geoff Pendrel — Devinci / Daredevil — 4:56.87

Pro Women’s Results:

1. Danika Schroeter — Giant Bicycle Canada — 5:41.48
2. Micayla Gatto — Rocky Mountain / Business Object — 5:43.42
3. Adrienne Miller — Devinci / Daredevil — 5:45.58

August 11, 2005 – At the end of July Giant Canada’s team riders travelled to Fernie Alpine Resort in Southern British Columbia for stop number three on the Canadian National series circuit.

Giant Canada’s Luke Kitzanuk put in one of the fastest runs of the weekend and finished up with a podium spot in third place! Luke’s third place finish also gained him enough points to jump back into the Canadian National Series leader jersey!

It is also worth noting that in the speed trap section of the course no rider went through that section faster than Giant’s Luke Kitzanuk who posted a blistering speed of 78 KM/H, that was on loose gravel and sand too!

Giant Canada’s Eric Goss was behind the eight ball all week, when Eric flew into B.C. Air Canada lost his bike and all his gear. Eric ended up missing a day of practice to the other riders but fortunately got his bike Express shipped to him the day before race day. After trying to borrow a helmet, pads, shoes, etc from other riders that were his size, Eric finally got in some practice runs and put in a respectable race run to finish up in seventh place on the weekend.

Giant Canada’s Danika Schroeter settled into her usual rhythm by placing first in qualifying and then for her race run she realized she forgot to pack her Series Leader jersey (which is mandatory for the race run). After some complications with race officials she was eventually given the “okay” to race. In Danika’s race run she crashed on the course and somehow came out of her shoe as well, without flinching Danika jumped back on her bike, with one foot shoe-less and resting on the pedal spikes, she rode the remaining parts of the course. Considering her back luck Danika still won the race and beat the second place finisher, who is the British National Champion, by over 12 seconds!

Everything seemed to be ending well until the second place finisher protested to race officials that Danika had not raced in her Series Leader jersey. The race officials then decided to disqualify Danika so she lost her first place, her first place points, prize money, leaders jersey and faced a hefty fine in the thousands of dollars.

*Note — this update was delayed because we were waiting for a decision from the Canadian Cycling Association on our appeal of Danika’s disqualification. The fine has been dropped but the single race disqualification will stand.

Pro Men’s Results:
1. Charles-Alexandre Dube (DHRacer) — 3:26.36
2. Adriano Digiacinto (Steed Cycles) — 3:27.94
3. Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycle Canada) — 3:28.28
4. Andrew Mitchell (Cove Bikes) — 3:28.40
5. Connor MacLeod (Cove Bikes) — 3:31.85
6. Dominick Menard (Devinci/Daredevil) — 3:32.43
7. Eric Goss (Giant Bicycle Canada) — 3:32.83
8. Mathieu Laurin (Devinci/Daredevil) — 3:33.04
9. Rohan Gearing (Cove Bikes) — 3:33.50
10. Geoff Pendrel (Devinci/Daredevil) — 3:36.52

Pro Women’s Results:
1. Fionn Griffiths –GBR- (Norco Factory Team) — 4:27.76
2. Adrienne Miller (Devinci/Daredevil) — 4:29.28

July 23, 2005 – This past weekend the Giant Canada downhill team made the short trip to Bear Mountain in Mission, B.C. just outside of Vancouver. Bear Mountain is renown on the circuit for two reasons: number one being that it’s 100% single track top to bottom and secondly it’s the longest running Provincial downhill race in the Province, nine years to be exact! There were some upgrades to the course this year, namely the addition of some large gap jumps in the middle of the forest which made for great spectator viewing spots; however, the majority of the people watched from a rock drop section where organizers bought in a large couch that hosted a DJ, an announcer (none other than Red Bull’s own Brad Ewen on the mic) and some loud speakers.

Giant Canada’s Danika Schroeter spent the majority of the weekend coaching a girls racing clinic on the course for female riders who were interested in learning from one of the best. When time came for Danika’s race run she only had two practice runs under her belt because of her time commitments to her coaching clinic; however, that didn’t slow her down any as Danika destroyed the Professional female field and bested second place by almost 30 seconds!

In the Pro men’s race Giant Canada’s Brant Lyon and Luke Kitzanuk were in attendance. Even though Brant was rocking the number one plate, due to his title of 2004 BC Cup Champion, it didn’t help him any in his race run as he crashed and knocked his wind out in a fast corner. After Brant re-composed himself he rode hard again down to the finish line.

Giant Canada’s Luke Kitzanuk was competing in his first B.C. Cup race after his recent move from Quebec and he didn’t disappoint! Luke nailed down a solid run and crossed the finish line with a podium spot in third place. Possibly showing off to the crowds and announcers at the rock drop area Luke was seen coming thru that section at a mind blowing speed that made the announcer, myself and the crowd gasp in fear as Luke jumped twice as far as anyone else and sliced thru the air between two trees with his body and bike! I will email a photo of Luke in flight in a later photo update.

Now the team prepares for the next Canadian National series race coming up in a week’s time.

Pro Women’s results:
1. Danika Schroeter — Giant Bicycle Canada — 4:16.59
2. Jenelle Cassidy — Cove Factory racing — 4:43.08
3. Brook Baker — Norco Factory team — 4:46.00



Pro Men’s results:
1. Andrew Mitchell — Cove Factory racing — 3:41.59
2. Tyler Morland — Sram/Cove — 3:44.84
3. Luke Kitzanuk — Giant Bicycle Canada — 3:46.15

May 9, 2005 – Giant Bicycle Canada is pleased to announce that Spy Optic will be supporting our professional downhill team with Spy goggles and sunglasses for 2005.

Spy Optic is one of the world’s foremost sunglass companies with 37 industry leading design and technology patents and distribution in 38 countries world wide. Spy Optic is based out of San Diego, California where all of Spy’s styles are designed before they are handcrafted in Italy.

“We are excited to be a part of Giant Bicycle Canada’s program and support Canada’s top mountain bike athletes with Spy Optic products”, said Spy Canada’s marketing manager, Daryl Trinidad.

Giant Canada’s professional athletes will be competing in Spy’s Pro Series Alloy MX Goggles with patented Scoop Ventilation System as well as an array of casual and performance Spy Optic glasses.

National Training Center

Giant Canada’s Eric Goss, currently ranked second in Canada and a member of Canada’s 2004 National team, has been practicing his French as he is currently training at the Bromont, Quebec National Cycling Center. Since May 2 nd Eric has been using the National team facilities as he prepares for the start of the 2005 Canadian National Series on May 22 nd.